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Wednesday, August 15, 2012

The Appeal of the Episcopal Church (cir. 1917)

I came across this after another blogger referenced a quotation from George Parkin Atwater. I pulled out some more quotations from his extended imaginary dialog between an inquirer (the Doctor) and a priest (the Rector) from his The Episcopal Church: Its Message for Men of Today written back in1917. There are some other parts of the dialog in which the Rector talks about the liberties and freedom of thought to be found in the Church of his day, and I did not pull those out because I believe that George Parkin Atwater would be shocked at how those liberties and freedoms have been abused by those in charge of teaching and preaching in today's Episcopal church. He seemed to believe that the Church would hold fast to the fundamentals of Christian faith. After reading the ramblings of the retired Bishop of Georgia at the Stand Firm in Faith site, in which he appeared to accuse the congregations that have left TEc as being divisive and overly focused on personal salvation over good works, I thought that the good Bishop might need a little refresher on the Episcopal Church of old and its take on the balance between faith and works. Here is an excerpt from Atwater.

“In what respect, Rector, has the Episcopal Church a special message to men today (1917)?” asked the Doctor.

“In the first place, Doctor, the Episcopal Church is holding fast to the fundamentals of the Christian faith. Men today respect convictions. They are tired of the guesses and the surmises and the frothy imaginings and the cheap sensationalism of those who under the pretense of liberty to believe what one likes, are offering often trifling substitutes for the sound and tried conclusions of universal Christendom. Men do not want religion to be belittled and reduced to mere amiability. Life, death, sin, and sorrow, loom too large in human affairs for men to be indifferent to the fundamental truth of God about these things. The Episcopal Church presents the Gospel of Christ as a whole, and the Christian faith as a whole, and not in such fragments as may please the hearer. It is the Church of great affirmations.

...The real mission of the Church is never lost sight of, that is, to bring individuals into the Kingdom of God and to make them realize their personal relation to Jesus Christ as their Saviour. The Episcopal Church is not apprehensive of the effect of its social emphasis because it has its foundation most firmly rooted and does not distrust its people. It believes that social service is a natural outcome of its fundamental principles. Its whole structure is comprehensive and not exclusive...

...The Christian Church today is essentially patriotic. In times of peace it has built the foundations of justice, patriotism, righteousness and truth into the fabric of rising manhood. It has exalted honor and sacrifice. In time of war the Church gave of its vital strength to the cause of the nation, and its priests and clergy followed the young manhood of the land to the trenches. The armies became the Church militant sent to far-off lands, but morally equipped, spiritually strengthened, encouraged, approved and blessed by the Church at home. The army fighting for liberty is the Church in action, transforming the will of the Church into deeds: expressing the moral judgments of the Church in smashing blows. And it is preparing to go on with the greater task of preparing the people of the land to be worthy of the liberty for which so many have made the supreme sacrifice. And it is within the Church that they who have been bereft of loved ones, may find the assurance that the dead shall rise to life eternal, shall be known again as on earth. Surely the people crave the comfort and assurance of immortality upon the certainty of which the Church pledges its very existence.

The Episcopal Church sounds its appeal to men, women, and children, to become part of that great army which sustains the banner and the power of Christ. For centuries the Church has poured forth its treasures, its lives, its sacrifices and efforts, for the good of the people. Today the Church offers to you the heritage of countless centuries. The Church would place all these things at your service. It would make you share in its riches. Would it not be worth while for you to realize the unselfishness and the value of the Church’s effort and to share with the Church in the mightiest crusade that ever inspired men, the triumph in the world, and in your life, of the principles and powers of the Kingdom of God?”

The Episcopal Church: Its Message for Men of Today, Chapters 11, 12 by George Parkin Atwater; Morehouse Publishing Company, 1917.
(AnglicanBooksRevitalized)

Poor Atwater, if only he were here to comment. Imagine if he had written this to the men of today. I thought I would do a little fisk with that in mind.

“In the first place, Doctor, the Episcopal Church is holding fast to the fundamentals of the Christian faith.

If you mean, "Do you say the creeds?" or "Do you celebrate the Eucharist," then yes, but if you throw in liturgies for same-sex unions, the ordination and celebration of divorced, non celibate homosexuals as bishops, then the answer is a resounding "No!"

Men today respect convictions. They are tired of the guesses and the surmises and the frothy imaginings and the cheap sensationalism of those who under the pretense of liberty to believe what one likes, are offering often trifling substitutes for the sound and tried conclusions of universal Christendom.

I think men still respect convictions, but the church of today is famous for spouting off frothy imaginings and for holding itself up as the paradigm of the church where one has the liberty to believe what one likes.

Men do not want religion to be belittled and reduced to mere amiability. Life, death, sin, and sorrow, loom too large in human affairs for men to be indifferent to the fundamental truth of God about these things.

My impression is that much of today's Episcopal practice and preaching is aimed at amiability. As has been documented on these pages, significant sections of the Bible are censored, and the parts that get cut are those that are, let's say, less than amiable.

The Episcopal Church presents the Gospel of Christ as a whole, and the Christian faith as a whole, and not in such fragments as may please the hearer.

See the above comment. There was a resolution passed at the last General Convention (C083 The Bible Challenge) which encourages 2013 to be the year for Episcopalians to read the entire Bible. Let's just see how many take on the challenge.

It is the Church of great affirmations.

Affirmation today has been redefined to mean, "I will affirm, approve of, and bless your choice of lifestyle."

...The real mission of the Church is never lost sight of, that is, to bring individuals into the Kingdom of God and to make them realize their personal relation to Jesus Christ as their Saviour.

Hello Bishop Shipps (ret.).

The Episcopal Church is not apprehensive of the effect of its social emphasis because it has its foundation most firmly rooted and does not distrust its people. It believes that social service is a natural outcome of its fundamental principles.

The church of today has to focus on its social emphasis because it does not trust its people because when they learn more about the foundations of their faith they are likely to see where the S.S. TEc is headed and jump ship.

Its whole structure is comprehensive and not exclusive...

The Episcopal church is becoming more and more homogeneous (if that were possible) by excluding those who do not share her views.

...The Christian Church today is essentially patriotic. In times of peace it has built the foundations of justice, patriotism, righteousness and truth into the fabric of rising manhood. It has exalted honor and sacrifice. In time of war the Church gave of its vital strength to the cause of the nation, and its priests and clergy followed the young manhood of the land to the trenches.

Since the Vietnam era, you are more likely to find the radical Episcopal priest marching in a protest against the military than following our troops into the trenches.

The armies became the Church militant sent to far-off lands, but morally equipped, spiritually strengthened, encouraged, approved and blessed by the Church at home. The army fighting for liberty is the Church in action, transforming the will of the Church into deeds: expressing the moral judgments of the Church in smashing blows.

Can you imagine the reaction if those words were spoken to an Episcopal General Convention of today?

And it is preparing to go on with the greater task of preparing the people of the land to be worthy of the liberty for which so many have made the supreme sacrifice. And it is within the Church that they who have been bereft of loved ones, may find the assurance that the dead shall rise to life eternal, shall be known again as on earth. Surely the people crave the comfort and assurance of immortality upon the certainty of which the Church pledges its very existence.

A church which cannot assert the bodily resurrection and heavenly ascension of Jesus cannot be very reassuring in that situation.

The Episcopal Church sounds its appeal to men, women, and children, to become part of that great army which sustains the banner and the power of Christ.

No, the church of today wants you to raise and sustain the rainbow colored banner instead.

For centuries the Church has poured forth its treasures, its lives, its sacrifices and efforts, for the good of the people.

Today the church uses its treasures to sue the people of God.

Today the Church offers to you the heritage of countless centuries.

Well maybe just the failed heritage of the last half century.

The Church would place all these things at your service. It would make you share in its riches.

Would it not be worth while for you to realize the unselfishness and the value of the Church’s effort and to share with the Church in the mightiest crusade that ever inspired men, the triumph in the world, and in your life, of the principles and powers of the Kingdom of God?”

The mighty crusade of today is the crusade for "social justice," why should anyone join a church to do that?

After the banner of Christ has been dragged through the mud by our bishops and leaders, it is imperative that we wash that banner in order to once again hold it high and once again proclaim, "The real mission of the Church is never lost sight of, that is, to bring individuals into the Kingdom of God and to make them realize their personal relation to Jesus Christ as their Saviour."

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I'm a passionate Christian, fiercely devoted to Jesus Christ and his Church. I am willing to labor long hours in the Lord’s vineyard, and I have little patience with those who are less willing or able to work as I do. My passions often carry me into temptation zones of wrath, lust, and pride.